Chapter 40

He's a Dog

Most of SEES was asleep, and that was the usual time Minato and Shinjiro watched cooking shows together. They were talking about the ingredients in the lounge when their noses twitched. Koromaru whined, freaked out by the mere smell. The boy and the guy exchanged glances.

Something's burning.

They both turned to look at the kitchen to see Fuuka who had benn trying to make beef stroganoff.

"H-help, Shinjiro-senpai…" Fuuka said in a shaky voice. "I… um..."

"You fucked up," Shinjiro said. "Let me take a look."

Koromaru and Aigis observed them from the lounge.

Minato glanced at the blonde. The reaction, no, the lack of reaction really annoyed him. Maybe something happened, but he didn't know and she didn't tell him, and he hated this feeling of not knowing, but she didn't feel a thing.

...

This was expected. Shinjiro was banging his head against a wall and Fuuka still didn't get what was wrong.

"Shinjiro-senpai...?"

"Don't give me that!" The beanie guy snapped. "There's so much wrong here. I don't know where to begin! Where are all those shit I've thought you, huh!? Throw them down the drain?"

Fuuka took a step backward. "Umm..."

"Oil is a fucking basic! And measuring is common sense! You waste those food like they're trash… Burned them and throw them all away. Goddamn!" Shinjiro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "... Seriously... Don't you feel bad at all for charring all this food?"

Fuuka looked down. "I'm sorry."

"I have told you again and again… Food is important. There are people out there who don't even know what a good meal is. There're people out there who never know what meat tastes like."

"I'm really sorry…"

No one would have guessed, Shinjiro was considerate.

There was once when Minato thought he and Shinjiro were alike. Now he knew… Shinjiro was more kind-hearted, more tolerant, more forgiving… Overall, he's a gentleman, a good person.

And Minato himself? Not at all.

"Now listen up," Shinjiro began. "Prepare everything beforehand. Chop everything that needs to be chopped. Measure out all your seasonings, too. That way, you won't panic while everything's cooking."

Fuuka nodded. "Y-yes…"

Shinjiro cut the ingredients while Fuuka repeated the sentences in a whisper.

"Gotta cook the onions at low heat. They'll taste better if they're cooked until they just start to get burned."

"Umm, onions need to be-"

"Stop that weird mantra and watch me."

...

Shinjiro had made the best beef stroganoff ever.

"Wow, it looks so delicious," Fuuka said and looked at the senior. "You really are good at this."

"Just shut it and eat up." It could apply to anything, people will look at what you do instead of you, Shinjiro thought. Say, you made a game. People will play that game and talk about it. Do they care about the programmer? The creator? Probably not much, because humans are born selfish.

"No, I want to look at you. I want to look at you who are so wonderful and caring…" Fuuka smiled. "You're amazing, Shinjiro-senpai."

"Huh…" Shinjiro pulled his beanie down. "Just eat already…"

"Thank you."

"Y-yeah."

Minato let Fuuka ate first. Seeing her being so determined… He never expected Fuuka to be that brave. She had the talent of cheering people up, and it was not fake at all.

"Since you make so much trouble, go wash the dishes," Shinjiro said.

"Roger!" Fuuka took the plate and skipped to the sink.

Minato went to the lounge, hoping to find Aigis but she already left. Koromaru gestured at the stairs. She already went back to her room. He sat on one of the chairs.

"I guess I'll make something again later." Shinjiro came sat next to him. "That was… nice."

So Minato told him to make enough for everybody next time. Treat them all to dinner. Like a party… Shinjiro's face now was priceless.

"That's kind of pushing it. There're no reasons, or occasion. To simply make a party is… And why would I do that?"

"Why not?"

"Because…" Shinjiro looked left, right, rolled his eyes, and sighed. "... Well, you got a point. Maybe it'll be okay to do once in a while."

Just say you want it. It's obvious.

"Tsun," Minato whispered.

"... What." A glance became a glare.

So Minato returned it with a smile. "Nothing."

"Well, we'll talk about that some other time. I'm gonna go check up on Fuuka-" There's the sound of dishes shattering. "…Too late."

It's a quiet Sunday. Minato taught Fuuka how to make milkshake, then he went to the bookstore with Mitsuru. They met Akihiko and Ken at Hagakure so the seniors treated him to ramen. At evening he walked Koromaru with Shinjiro. Junpei and Yukari came ask him for help with their homework.

It's quiet, Minato thought as he was staring out the window from his bed. It's quiet, but he's not sure why.

"S'up, Minato." Junpei greeted his friend at the school gate. "Sorry I haven't been around… But, you know, I can't just leave her alone…"

The boy nodded. "I've got your back."

"Yeah… Thanks, man."

They entered the school. There were more people on the walkway than usual.

"Oh, and… Have you ever thought of what you're living for?" Junpei asked

"Yes." By 'thinking' doesn't mean you have to know the answer yet.

"Wow, I never knew you were so deep-W-W-Whaa, what!?"

Minato looked up too and saw it too.

Aigis was standing on top of a tree wearing a blue butterfly mask. She stood still, not doing anything.

'What is she doing up there?' A random girl whispered.

'Has she gone insane?' The other girl said. 'Wait... Climbing a tree is against the rule, right?'

A familiar melody rang through the school, followed by a certain Kirijo's voice. "Aigis Ikutsuki, come down from the tree. Please refrain from doing something... abnormal."

The blonde shook her head.

"Aigis..." Mitsuru sighed. "Trees are not for students to climb..."

While others came looking at the girl on a tree, Minato turned to look at Junpei. "... 'Ikutsuki'?"

"Heh... The Chairman's surname becomes hers. That's why she's so popular in this school, even more than Mitsuru."

Junpei greeted his senior standing behind him. "Oh, hi, Akihiko-senpai."

"We let Aigis be his daughter," the boxer told Minato. "Quite fitting, I would say."

Minato asked, "How did you know?"

"How did you not know?" Akihiko shot back. "Seriously, where were you?"

"... I never know she was given a surname."

Junpei nudged him with his elbow. "Dude, I thought you are the closest to her! You really never heard about it before?"

"She never tells me."

Akihiko said, "And you expect her to tell you every single thing?"

"... Right."

In class, Aigis totally ignored him.

At lunchtime, he called her but she ran away to who knows where.

After school,

"Ai-"

"Stand. Bow. Farewell."

The blonde charged to the window, opened it, and jumped, leaving Minato and the whole class stunned.

"... Total fail, man," Junpei said. "An utter failure. This ammo is not easy to pick."

"Now's not the time." Minato sighed. Ah, rumors will spread.

"Wow... now it's rice porridge." Fuuka grinned, staring at the steamy pot. "It didn't go as planned, but it's okay too, right."

"It's good," Minato said as he returned bowls into the cabinet.

There were only two members in the Cooking Club: Minato and Fuuka. The boy finished making sugar cookies half an hour ago but he still had to stay and helped the teal haired girl with her soggy rice. She was looking down on herself too. She was talking with herself too.

"This is good rice porridge. I have to let others try it too!" Fuuka put porridge in boxes. "I'll give it to Yukari. Oh, and Junpei-kun, and Shinjiro-senpai... Minato-kun?" She called him.

"What is it?"

"I heard you are buying grounded coffee with Shinjiro-senpai today. Let me help." Fuuka took some dishes from him and grabbed a sponge. "I have to take a mental note, 'Pay attention to the amount of water to use when cooking rice.' Really, it's amazing how the amount of water could affect things this much."

"It's called butterfly effect." Minato did some researches on butterflies after that day. That they he arrived here. "Not exactly in this case... It's when you do something different, even slightly, and the outcome completely change."

"I've heard of Chaos Theory..." Fuuka said. "Things that happen unpredictably, with many possibilities..."

"Chaotic behavior exists in many natural systems, such as weather and climate. Like the coming typhoon... Maybe a butterfly is flapping its wings somewhere."

After the dishes were done, Minato prepared to leave. He noticed Fuuka looking out the window. "What are you doing?"

"Aigis's not here today..." Fuuka murmured.

"Aigis? She's not in any clubs."

"Yes, I know, but I mean... She should be there." Seeing the confused Minato, the teal haired girl pointed at a tree branch right outside the window, big enough for a person to stand on. "She normally sits there and looks at us."

"... She does?"

"Like a stalker looking at her senpai, yes," Fuuka said. "I don't mind it, though... Don't tell me you never notice."

Of course, Minato wouldn't answer that question.

Shinjiro was waiting for him outside the Chagall Cafe. They entered the cafe and ordered two coffees.

Suddenly, Shinjiro bent down and coughed. Coughed and coughed, so much some people even moved their seats away from them. Stares. Minato hated this kind of stares, the one that didn't look at a person, rather, the topic to gossip. "You okay?"

"... Yeah, I'm fine," Shinjiro said. "It's not contagious or anything, so don't worry."

Minato wanted to ask what's wrong, but he wouldn't answer. Shinjiro was strong. If he had some kind of disease, he wouldn't say.

Suppressants.

Does Junpei know about it? He was in the scene, but maybe Mitsuru didn't tell him yet. What if he knew? How would he feel...? They were quite close, after all. Will he still go visit? He will. Minato knew Junpei would.

What about him?

Yes, he was here with Shinjiro, but… There's sometimes he wishes he didn't know about it.

He wished Shinjiro didn't know about it. But he probably knew. How does it feel, living a life that you know would end?

Actually, all life would end someday.

He didn't talk with Pharos for a while. That kid was avoiding him. Aigis too. My first friend and my last friend avoid me.

Why?

"You have that face again"

Minato blinked.

"That face of someone thinking and thinking." Shinjiro was always like this, being worried about other people.

"Don't you worry about yourself?" Minato blinked and Shinjiro gave him a weird look. He didn't mean to say that out loud.

Shinjiro fixed his beanie and sighed. "Too much, I think."

"Huh?"

"Already the past, all coz I was selfish." Shinjiro looked at him. "Whatever. You're in a cafe, so drink before it gets cold."

Somehow, being with him felt so natural Minato forgot he wasn't alone, and his habit just popped up. "Yeah."

"Relax sometimes, and enjoy life as it is. You can't do a damn thing anyway if it's just how it is."

Minato nodded.

"Good." Shinjiro finished his cup. "And do something with your weird relationship."

Aigis, no doubt. "So it really is weird in everyone's eyes."

Shinjiro leaned forward. "Then tell me, what is she to you?"

"A friend."

"And how do you treat her?"

"What...?"

"You treat her like a dog," Shinjiro said. "And guess what? She probably thinks you are her master, since she treats herself like a slave."

"Sounds worse than I thought." But Minato already knew something was wrong between them for quite a while.

"You gotta fix it soon. Forget what I said earlier. You have to think. You have to think a lot."

"Why?"

"Because that's the only thing you could do for now. She's avoiding you, after all."

"Yeah."

Shinjiro stared at him. It's not a deadly glare or a pitying look. He simply looked, and it's unnerving. "You're really indifferent."

"I guess."

"You're not even denying."

"It's the truth, isn't it?"

"You sound like girls in the back alley."

"No way."

"And when the fuck will you finished your coffee?"

"Nah..." Minato looked at the half-full cup of coffee he didn't feel like drinking.

"Finished it."

"Hmm…"

"Finished it."

"Okay, okay." Minato drank it. He should have ordered hot chocolate. "And?"

"Let's go home."

"Home?"

"I mean, the dorm."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Shinjiro yelled as soon as they entered the lounge. Minato was acting weird, so much he's not the same person. Shinjiro hated that. He hated that a lot.

"Huh…?" Minato sat down on the floor and petted Koromaru, waiting for more explanation, but since the guy kept quiet he shrugged. "Change of seasons?"

"A typhoon can't change people."

"It can, since one has to avert one's eyes and see inside oneness-"

"Enough of that!"

The blue haired boy scratched the dog's neck, in this kind of situation. "You're the one being weird."

"You started it." Shinjiro sighed. "You're… well... Geez, you act like a girl."

"In the alternate universe, maybe I am."

"I'm not joking."

"You're Shinjiro."

Shinjiro wanted to facepalm, but he can't. "... Really, it's like you have some kind of mood swing."

"Yay."

"Don't take it literally."

The boy threw a bone shaped snack in the air for the dog to catch it with his mouth. "You said it yourself, don't be serious."

Is this really Minato? This question kept nagging him. "I hope that 'the girl from the alternate universe' would teach you a lesson or two… But it's not like there's a place like the other world or something."

"It's possible. There are infinite possibilities in this universe, and also other universes that are probably infinite. It's possible the reality just overlap-"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Geez Shinjiro, what's wrong with you?" Minato paw-five the dog. "So you don't want to talk with a boy… In your ideal world, I'm a girl, right?"

"You-"

Minato was gone. Already. Damn, he runs faster than any assassins and thieves. All dexterity with no constitution. He was with a dog for too long… even though he wasn't lately. That boy had a lot of frie—acquaintance. He would prefer that word. He knew too many people. Or not.

Shinjiro sighed. "... Is it fun to look at people talking?"

"The act of observing itself is not enjoyable," Aigis said. "But by observing, a lot of information could be gathered."

"That info are useless if you don't understand it." Like how you are being friends even though you don't know what friendship really is.

"... I am not observing. I was waiting to talk to you." The blonde came out of her hiding spot, behind the counter, and walked to him. "What do you think, Shinjiro-san? what should I do?"

"Be yourself."

"That answer is not useful."

"Because you don't understand it. And I'm really pissed off right now."

"..." She looked down. "If what both Mina-... Leader and Chidori-san said are true, then… What should I do? Nothing seems right..."

Chidori must have gone overboard. Geez, you Kirijo hater.

"But somehow, Koromaru-san always seems to do the right thing." Aigis looked at him. "Could you explain this?"

"That's why sometimes I envy dogs," Shinjiro began. "A dog is a dog. No worries. No regrets. Roll on the floor and enjoy life and no one will judge you. No rules. No laws. It's a simple lifestyle. You can be happy and don't have to think a lot like a certain boy, who probably has thousands what ifs in his head."

Aigis nodded.

"But wishing can't change a thing. If you're born a human, you must accept it. Only you can accept your own life… About those two, forget what they said. They're emos, and emo's rules don't apply to us." Shinjiro sat down and petted Koromaru. "And look at this fella here."

Aigis knelt down. "I am looking at Koromaru."

"He never says a thing, never compliment or spout out sweet words, but he has friends too, right?"

"Arf!" Koromaru barked.

"Actually, he says," Aigis explained in a monotone voice. "Hidden in his moves is the body language of a dog. Body language can be used to communicate with each other, especially of the same species-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Shinjiro threw a nearby toy against a wall.

"Ah, Shinjiro-san… that is Ken-san's new figurine."

"Minato can buy him a new one. Don't change the subject… Where did I left off?"

"Arf." Koromaru wagged his tail.

"Oh yeah. Thanks, buddy." Shinjiro rubbed the white dog's head. "What I'm trying to say is, words can do a lot of things, as well as the lag of words."

Aigis blinked.

"This world is complicated, so of course some people feel like whatever they do are wrong. No matter how much you think, there're always things that can't be figured."

Aigis nodded as Shinjiro attempted to explain.

...

She missed Minato. He was good at explaining.

Shinjiro sighed. He sighed a lot today. "Okay... Look at Koromaru-"

"Again?"

"Don't take it literally." Shinjiro petted the Shiba Inu. "Koromaru… a dog. He could make friend without having to go party or drink or drive a motorcycle. He doesn't have to go shopping or do drugs or whatever. He doesn't have good grades or a lot of money."

"That is because it is impossible for him to do it."

"He's… just a dog. A simple dog, but people say he's friendly. People want to be his friend. You know why?"

"He is… not annoying?" The blonde pondered. "I think it happens naturally."

"And you know why?"

Aigis shook her head.

"You said it's impossible for Koromaru to go dancing and pick up girls because he's a dog, right. But, what if he's a human? Do you think he would do that?"

She shook her head.

"Then what kind of person he would be?"

"A nice person."

"Why do you think that?"

"…"

"Because Koromaru is Koromaru," Shinjiro said. "And he's the best."

"…"

"So, Aigis."

She was quite startled since the guy never called her by her name.

"Be Aigis." Shinjiro bent down and looked at her. Not a stare, just a look. "And find the best version of yourself."

"Be… myself?" Aigis whispered. "And… find myself…"